Chapter. 14 Unstoppable Flood

"Alelelelelelelelelelele!"

"I want to get down here!" The wind had brought tears to Waver's eyes. Fingers clasped the railing, knuckles white with tension. Never had he expected to hurtle through the sky on a chariot. The very thought terrified him. And now he was moving, into battle under the command of the mighty Rider, as his Thunder-like voice roared. Waver could be proud of himself for not emptying his stomach at their speed.

Lightning shook the air and scorched the ground as the battle wagon landed in the middle of the battlefield. The cracked stone slabs, steel splinters, and shattered concrete were hurled into the roaring storm. Saber's body protected Irisviel from the wind and debris that would surely have swept her off her feet. Smoke rose as the chariot came to a stop, squealing with metal. A tall person with red hair dropped the reins, which cracked with a loud thud. The arm muscles were visible in the lantern light, and scars sat on the skin like ornaments from his countless battles.

Rider spread his arms as if he were standing before the common folk, delivering an impossibly long speech.

"Sheathe your blades, for you stand before a king. I am Iskander, the King of Conquerors. In this Grail War, I strive as a Rider class." Contrary to Rider's expectation, Lancer and Saber did not even flinch their shoulders before his royal authority. Saber, especially, could not afford to back down from such a pompous and egotistical performance. After all, she was a King as well.

The voice echoed through the barrier. But while Waver, the boy on the chariot, was so frightened that he could not utter a word, Saber and Lancer's eyes fell full of resentment on the King who had just tried to present himself nobly.

"No good?" asked Rider, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Rider, why the hell are you being a jerk..."

Waver's fear of Rider, who towered over him like a giant, was completely gone as he tugged on the King's red coat. The night seemed nothing but a single nightmare for him. He wanted Rider to run over both exhausted heroes with his chariot and thus achieve victory. How could he ever expect his servant to give a speech and reveal all his personal information? Just the thought of what other Masters and servants could do with the information terrified Waver.

"...I just can't... Argh."

Waver's protests fell on deaf ears. The snapping middle finger was the only thing that got the yelping Waver's attention and ensured the Master's silence. Rider again straightened and turned to Saber and Lancer.

"Hmm, it behooves a King to present himself proud and unwavering before his people. I ask you, heroic spirits, who until now have been fighting for the Grail. Can your desire be greater than that of a true King?"

Saber, who did not quite understand the foreign King's intentions, narrowed her eyes in search of an answer. She didn't like something in those words but couldn't tell what it was. Was it related to the heroic spirit? Her inner self told her that the Rider's wish was madness.

"And what exactly is it that you desire?" Lancer asked.

"Did I not make myself clear... and that, though time is short?"

Iskander sighed, his voice having lost all force. Saber's green eyes stare unflinchingly at the troublemaker. Even Rider realized that he could not triumph with power alone. He had to make his intentions clear and get the will of the people on his side, just as he did on his conquest in the past. Only then would Lancer and Saber understand and follow him as his loyal subjects did even after his death. Humming, Rider signaled that he had concluded.

"Am I not the King of conquest? It is my ambition to conquer this world in all its realms. If you leave the Grail to me, I will also grant you the privilege of witnessing this joy."

All those present looked at the King with such astonishment that they momentarily forgot their anger. The announcement was so surprising and absurd that no one found the appropriate words. The way Iskander entered the battlefield suggested that he wanted to participate in the fight, but after his short announcement, everyone doubted his motives.

"I admire your courage, but I already swore to give the Grail to one person." Even though Lancer's voice was calm, like the sea, his emphasis hinted at the discontent with Rider's presence.

"Rider, did you stop our duel merely for such a selfish reason?" asked Saber. Both felt their knight's honor was offended. An honorable duel, stopped by a King who behaved no differently than a barbarian. But they did not draw his attention to this since they assumed Rider was merely performing a sham.

"So, does that mean you're open to negotiation?" Rider suggested with one hand at his chin.

"Enough!"

With the outcry of the two heroic spirits, the barrier began to shake again. However, it wasn't caused by their powerful voices trying to intimidate a common enemy. In the meantime, while the heroic spirits talked, the white mist reached the barrier unnoticed. Even Kayneth Lancer's Master, who erected the bounded field, had forgotten to monitor the whiteness in the sight of the brave but perhaps overconfident King.

Immediately, the white veil began to gnaw at the dome. The first sparks flew under the tension. The bounded field was not designed for such a force. Kayneth had built increased stability into the barrier. It was not far-fetched to imagine that a battle between two heroic spirits shook the surroundings and sent stormy, whipping winds to the inner city. But he had not calculated an attack from the outside at that time. Even if he had tried to maintain the barrier, the outside force would be too great to withstand.

A pale hand touched the bounded field, which began to flicker like water. Veins of demon-red light crawled up the imaginary construct like roots, devouring the magical energy. Cracks clanked as the magic field began to crack under pressure.

'For heaven's sake,' thought Irisviel.

"Well, I was hoping to complete our negotiation before this thing arrived..." muttered Rider, somewhat frustrated at the turn of events. Saber and Lancer were more stubborn than he had expected. But even if the negotiations had failed, his veins were burning with fire. If they did not yield to his words, he had to defeat them in battle and thus conquer the enemy's resolve. He didn't lose; for the King of conquerors, there could be no greater task than taming the heroic spirits of other eras and incorporating them into his army.

Fearlessly, Saber turned to the Red Light that seemed to glow from a pale, no rather white hand. With a crunch, the barrier collapsed entirely. The white mist, previously kept outside, fell like a wave inside the harbor. The incoming tide spilled over the asphalt, past the colored containers. It poured unstoppably onto the defenseless Masters who lingered on the ground.

"Irisviel!"

Like Saber, Rider also grabbed his Master and jumped back onto the containers stacked outside the factory gates. And just in time, too. The mist rotted everything on contact. The porous stone turned ominously black and became a sludge-like mass.

Shaken, Irisviel looked down at the ground that had just served as a battlefield for Saber and Lancer. Like Waver, she could only hang her mouth open as the stone's surface rotted before her eyes. How long could she have survived down there? Her whole body shuddered at the thought. With her magic circles and the protection of Avalon, she was sure she could withstand the magical field spreading beneath her. Her eyes wandered to the young Waver, who was pale and breathing fast. Judging by his reaction, Irisviel concluded that Waver would have been severely damaged by simple skin contact. She could not be sure, but she knew that the boy was not protected by a sacred artifact as she was.

"Did you invite this person, Rider?" asked Lancer with a sardonic grin.

"Haha, not in the least. She was already on her way to visit you before ours truly. But now that I see her in person, she's more terrifying than I thought."

Saber and Lancer could only nod, for neither of them had ever felt such a strange aura before. Of course, the same was true of the Masters, who lingered in the area, watching the person dressed in white.

"So as it looks," Iskander grumbled, "the Grail would be a lot better off in my hands than with that thing. And who would deny a King his wish, right my friends?"

Saber shook his head. "Your way of thinking is truly unfathomable. But I, who am the ruler of Britain, cannot simply bow down to a King."After all the battles and all the bloodshed started to protect her people; she could never again face her friends and subjects in the afterlife if she gave in.

Rider, surprised by Saber's announcement, raised his eyebrows. "Oh? The ruler of Britain Who would have thought the famous King of Knights was just a little girl?"

Saber raised her sword as Rider hurt the pride of her homeland. Her voice turned cold, like the blade that once stuck in the stone and was drawn only by her.

"And do you want to feel the blade of this young girl?"

Silence fell as a foul smell was carried to the roof by the wind. But the white woman stood still as a statue. None of those present had the faintest idea what her purpose was, for no emotion came from her body. One could almost think she was an empty doll. Just a puppet of someone else.

"When I saw the golden light of your blade, you looked familiar, but that I was allowed to compete with the King of Britain, what an honor! But what shall we do with the young lady who lingers peacefully among us? We cannot simply continue like that!"

The question of Lancer was thrown into the room, but none of those present answered.

Likewise, none of the servants wanted to make a rash move. Even if none of those present knew it, with Assassin, there were countless servants in the area. Since nobody knew the woman's abilities on the bank of the river and she already controlled large amounts of the battlefield, no one wanted to start a fight, and rightly so. Who could predict what the built-up area of death fog was capable of?

Saber knew that with her superior magic defense, she must not fear the veil, but she felt it would not be the same for Irisviel. And with the number of servants present, she couldn't leave her "Master" behind either.

"Could she be an aftercare of Medusa?" asked Irisviel as she caught sight of the closed eyes that seemed to twinkle ominously in the mist. It was precisely this concern that crossed the minds of all present. The fact that the apparition had not yet opened its eyes could only mean that a dangerous ability was hiding underneath.

Full of fear, Kayneth looked at the ghostly apparition that came wandering across the river. To him, she looked like a creature that had sprung from the horror of an old book. Likewise, the sea wind froze under the horrendous fog that spread like a plague along the shore, threatening to swallow everything.

Kayneth had recognized Waver when he rode up on Iskander's chariots. Waver was a student at Uhrenturm and attended as many classes as possible. In and of himself, this brat had no talent as a magus. He merely came from a family of three generations and possessed miserable magic circles, both in quality and quantity.

But Kayneth would have immediately kicked out a student who wasn't worthy of attending the lecture. Waver was one of the most ambitious students he had ever encountered. He possessed a great talent for theoretical magecraft. It could be called a curse that this boy was born into the wrong family. His miserable magic circuits made it impossible for him to ever achieve anything truly amazing.

The boy was too arrogant, and the longing for recognition and fame was too great. That he was unable to acknowledge his shortcomings and accept that he was destined for nothing great was a thorn in Kayneth's side. Kayneth had read this characteristic in the form of a ridiculously elaborated document. While there was nothing wrong with the statement that mastery was an important aspect of magecraft, for a magus, the magic circuits and the crest of a family that contained all knowledge were simply everything.

Waver dared to steal the catalyst in front of his eyes out of frustration. To say that Kayneth was furious would be an understatement. Under other circumstances, he would have shown his arrogant student the horror of a mage war.

But the river girl put a stop to this plan. She seemed unflappable, even as she stood in the immediate presence of two Kings. Kayneth thought it impossible, but the woman gave the impression of being able to escape from a fight with the three servants, should it come to that. And it was precisely this fearless imperturbability that caused Kayneth great concern. The mist had caused three outstanding heroic spirits to fall back. It could also function like a reality marble that did not project another world.

The woman slowly turned to the side. Her gaze fell through the walls of concrete and steel. Kayneth, who hid behind illusions, shuddered when he felt the countless eyes on his skin. A cold shiver ran down his spine. It was as if all his accumulated knowledge and weaknesses were revealed before these eyes. But one thing worried him much more.

'She can see me?'

Lancer could sense his Master's panic over the contract he shared with him. The woman was looking directly in Kayneth's direction. And that despite the building blocking the way and with her eyes closed. However, he did not move in order not to reveal to the others where his Master was hiding.

Shiro's gaze wandered like a spotlight from left to right. An uneasiness washed over all present. Saber clutched her sword while even Rider's playful face stiffened. Everyone got the feeling of something crawling over their bodies. And like Kayneth, it was as if their source code was being revealed and information about strength as well as abilities gathered.

"I could swear she just screwed up her face; did something happen, Saber?" asked Rider, noticing that the gaze stayed on Saber for an eternity.

"I don't know..." she answered unsure. Saber, the King of the knights, was the only one whose information could not be extracted. Whether the woman was frustrated, no one could have told from her expression alone. But Saber's magic defense was unchallenged in this war.

Waver was thrown against the scales by Iskander's large hand as he slapped the young one on the shoulder to ask a question.

"Ay, lad, say she'd have to be a servant too, wouldn't she? Shouldn't you be able to see her status then?"

Waver rubbed his shoulder and stared indignantly at his servant, who kept treating him like a little kid. Wasn't he the Master? Even if Waver administered the command spells, Iskander would never submit like a servant. Despite all this, Waver concentrated entirely on what he would call a beautiful being. He, too, wanted to know what was hiding in the veil of mist.

Every Master could see certain information, like classes or weaknesses. At least this should be so. However, he could not see any information about this servant.

"I can't tell." He said, dumbfounded.

"What?! You're a Master, aren't you? Or are you going to tell me that thing isn't a Servant?"

Saber and Irisviel also turned to Iskander in surprise. However, since she was not a Master but only provided mana in addition to Kiritsugu, she was unable to verify the statement herself.

The White Woman's gaze, which for a moment had been staring behind the others at something hidden in the shadows, slowly turned to Waver, who was trying uninterruptedly to see through.

"She should be a servant. At least I think so, but I can't be sure... Ahh!" An intangible pain shook his soul. Hands were slapped to his face as Waver lost strength under his legs and crashed against the muscular, heroic spirit. Never before had he felt such pain. The body, otherwise flooded with warm blood, lost all feeling. No warmth, no wind. Waver could no longer feel anything. Everything spread out like a void before his eyes.

"Boy?" screeched Rider anxiously, catching the twitching body about to kiss the steel plate.

Although Waver was a magus, he had no means of protecting his mind. For Shiro, it was easy to follow the connection to the Grail that the inexperienced Master used to view her status. The presence Shiro manifested through the Grail connection was too powerful for Waver to bear.

Rider shook the dazed boy, who was muttering single words to himself. Blood ran from his nose, and his eyes rolled upward before closing. Rider spread his cloak as a shield. The magical energy that permanently surrounded his armor was enough to shield any glances from the woman.

"Come on, boy. You can't just go limp now. Look how far you've come with your ambition." The big fingers pressed on the side of his neck. Relieved, Rider breathed a sigh of relief as a steady pulse tingled on his fingertips.